US targets Al-Shabaab fundraisers, money launderers with sanctions
Demonstrators attend a rally against the Al Shabaab militia group in Mogadishu on January 12, 2023. PHOTO | HASSAN ALI ELMI | AFP
The US Department of the Treasury on Monday imposed sanctions on what it said was an international fundraising and money-laundering network for the Al-Shabaab militant group operating in Somalia.
The sanctions targeted 16 entities and individuals across the Horn of Africa region, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, the Treasury said in a statement.
The action, which follows US sanctions against a separate network linked to Al-Shabaab in October 2022, freeze any US assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.
It said Al-Shabaab, which Washington considers a terrorist group, generates over $100 million a year, including by extorting local businesses.
Al-Shabaab, linked to Al-Qaeda, has been waging an insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 in a bid to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
“The threat posed by Al-Shabaab is not limited to Somalia,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“Al-Shabaab’s revenues are disbursed to other Al-Qa'ida-linked groups worldwide and help fund Al-Qa’ida’s global ambitions to commit acts of terrorism and undermine good governance.”
